On 10th Sept 2011, Bishop Rev Hwa Yung of Methodist Church Malaysia was here in Kuching to address the issue of bribery and corruption at Trinity Methodist Church (TMC). He has written a book of the same name. The book has generated a lot of interest in these subjects especially in present Malaysia. No doubt corruption is an issue in many countries, but as our country is going through a political transition it seems that corruption is on everyone's mind.
Rev Hwa Yung's book was a result of a paper on corruption he prepared for the Graduate Fellowship while he was studying for a PhD in the USA in 1992. He didn't want to make the presentation but was directed by God to take up the challenge as he did not know much about the subject prior to his presentation.
Rev Hwa Yung said basically we human have 3 struggles, a)money b)sex and c)power. Many people failed because of these issues including pastors.
How can we take truth of God and make it alive in the real world? Rev Hwa Yung suggested three models :
Separation Model - separate from the world which rebels against God.
Indentification Model - Christians are salt & light of the world (Matt 5:13-16), To live simultaneously under God's law.
Transformation Model - we live in two realms but as Christians we can change the structure/systems to be God-comforming.
He suggested an integrated model of the three models that is called Incarnational model.. This model assumes that we practise identification only to the extent we allow transformation.
What can we do ?
1. Never commit or condone active corruption practices.
2. Avoid as much as possible passive acceptance of corruption i.e paying for something that no doubt is legitimate.
3.Aim for transformation –for the greater good, for better quality of service, so that lives of others may improve.
4. God will speak to us individually and He expect differently from each of us.
5. Never lose sight of God’s call for us to be SALT and LIGHT.
In the nut shell do not participate in corruption, we must be committed to change and God will help us.
Beside Rev Hwa Yung lecture, five brothers shared how they handle corruption and bribery in their work. We had a doctor, an architect, two consulting engineers and a developer sharing their testimonies from the workplace.
Overall, a very interesting and informative seminar on corruption and how as Christians we should respond to this issue in our daily lives.
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